The Rolling Thunder S h er m a n C ou n ty S W C D & W a t e rs h ed Co un c i l
January 28th, 2015
Volume
, Issue
Soil & Water Conservation District Wanted!
Inside this issue: FSA
2
Odds & Ends
2
Weather Station
3
The SWCD is always looking for a volunteer(s) to offer up their shop for our annual After Hours Conservation Sessions. Please consider helping your local conservation office so we can help you! Please contact the Conservation office at 541-565-3216 x 3.
Quote of the Quarter 3 Weed District
4
ODA
4
Advertisements
5
Calendar of Events
6
Watershed Council Council Meeting
We’re on the web! Don’t forget to check us out @ shermancountyswcd.com & shermancountywc.com
Our next Watershed Council meeting will be held in February at the OSU Extension conference room. Date and Time still to be determined. We will be discussing what has gone on in the past few months as well as voting on some housekeeping items including new officers and board members. If you are currently a council member please plan on attending as your presence is crucial to approve such items. Notice of the meeting will be posted for the public and will be
available on our website shermancountywc.com. See you all there! Funding The Watershed Council still has funding available for both large and small grants. We are here to help with your conservation needs. Get signed up for some financial assistance today!
The Rolling Thunder
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Farm Service Agency FSA News FSA is looking for CRP success stories to share 2015 marks the 30th anniversary of CRP. As part of the celebration FSA National Office and Regional Public Affairs Office are reaching out to gather leads for CRP success stories to share. Please contact the local FSA Office no later than February 20 if you would like to
share your CRP success story about the beneficial, longterm impact CRP has had on Oregon’s unique landscape. Help us showcase the best part of Oregon’s CRP story in our part of the state!!
At least one current owner must sign to update yields and/or re-allocate base acres.
ARC PLC – DON’T WAIT! PLEASE CALL TO SCHEDULE YOUR APPOINTMENT NOW!
Now until March 31, 2015 - last date to elect PLC, ARC -County, ARC-Individual
DeadlinesNow to February 27, 2015 - last date to update yields and/or re-allocate base acres
Note: RMA Yield Data reports by farm are now available by request from your FSA County Office.
All current producers on a farm must make a one-time election that is unanimous and irrevocable.
Odds & Ends From the Watershed Coordinator— I will be out of the office for maternity leave starting January 5th, 2015 and returning April 6th, 2015. I will be working from home part time and checking my emails as often as I can while out of the office. Please feel free to send me emails (
[email protected]) or contact the staff at the office(541-565-3216 x 3) if you need to speak with me over the phone. Thank you! ~ Kayla von Borstel
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Experiment Weather Station November—
December—
Total precipitation was 1.52" which is .15" below normal.
December precipitation is 1.98” which is 0.28” above normal
The crop year total is 3.20" which is .07" above normal.
The highest temperature was 67 degrees on the 7th.
2014-2015 Crop year total is 5.18” which is 0.35” above normal
The highest temperature was 60 degrees on the 11th and 12th
The lowest temperature was 0 degrees on the 31st
Long time averages indicate we can expect 56 degrees and 15 degrees
The monthly average temperature was 34.2 degrees which is 1.7 degrees above normal
4” soil temperature ranges from 47 degrees to 35 degrees
The average windspeed at 26” was 2.5mph which is 1mph below normal
The windiest day was the 25th with 215 miles recorded for 24 hrs
Calendar year precipitation for 2014 is 11.11”
The lowest temperature was 1 degree on the 15th
Long time averages indicate we can expect 62 and 17 degrees
The monthly average temperature was 37.5 degrees which is 1.5 degrees below normal
4” soil temperature ranged from 58 to 36 degrees
The average wind speed was 3.3 miles per hour which is 0.2 above normal
The windiest day was the 2nd with 237 miles of wind in 24 hours
Evaporation is not recorded between November & March
Quote of the Quarter To the farmer, soil is where crops grow. To the engineer, soil is a foundation upon which to build. To the ecologist, soil supports communities of living things. To the archaeologist, soil holds clues to past cultures. To the city dweller, soil nurtures grass and gardens.
To the soil scientist, soil is all of these things.
Soil has been called "the skin of the earth" because it is the thin outermost layer of the Earth's crust. Like our own skin, we can't live without soil. ~Source: Soil Science Society of America
The Rolling Thunder
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Weed District A Cooperative Weed management Area (CWMA) is being developed on the Deschutes River from Maupin to the Mouth, up two miles from the river on both sides. Partners include the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, Sherman and Wasco Counties Soil and Water Conservation Districts, the Weed Departments from both Counties, NRCS, private landowners and the Bureau of Land Management. Each partner put in either funds or in-kind services with a large portion of funding coming
from the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s State Weed Board Grant program. For the last two years, seasonal crews of weed technicians have been hired and trained to identify and treat noxious weeds. Their primary weapons have been GPS units to map weeds, backpack sprayers to hit remote locations, shovels and machetes to chop weeds and snake chaps for protection. This year the focus was on weed control projects along the river corridor from Macks Can-
yon to the mouth, on both sides of the river. Crews chopped and sprayed scotch thistle, and sprayed rush skeleton weed, white top, Russian knapweed, diffuse knapweed, Canada thistle and yellow star thistle. Three float trips were taken, headed by ODF&W, covering the areas with limited access along the River. Crews also hiked multiple canyons, usually from the top to the bottom, to survey, map and chop or spray remote patches of weeds. The access road on the Sherman County side was used
extensively to transport crews and spray equipment. The overall project resulted in 61.9 net acres treated, almost all with backpack sprayers, with an estimated total project area covered this year at over 24,000 acres. Aerial spraying is being considered for next year to treat some large patches of skeleton weed on the canyon walls, mostly resulting from fires in the past few years. This project is planned to be continued annually, as long as funding can be secured.
Oregon Department of Agriculture In the last newsletter, ODA provided an update on their Strategic Implementation Area (SIA) in Mill Creek near The Dalles. They had identified 6 landowners with ‘moderate concerns’, 3 with ‘significant’ concerns and 1 ‘serious concern’, and were working on the significant and serious concerns. Here is the ‘moderate’ update. ODA drove by one of them and found the problem had been corrected. ODA contacted three other landowners for site visits. One is out of the country; the other two properties had no agri-
cultural activities. The final two are working with the Wasco County SWCD to address water quality issues. ODA believes that this will essentially conclude the Strategic Implementation process in Mill Creek. The Strategic Implementation process has gone so smoothly in Wasco County that the Lower Deschutes Agricultural Water Quality Local Advisory Committee recommended at their December 3 Biennial Review of the Area Plan that ODA establish more of these in the Management Area.
ODA are working with stakeholders to develop and implement a process of prioritizing small watersheds across the state as future SIAs. There will be regional meetings this spring across the state to discuss the results and move forward on identifying more SIAs in Oregon.
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Local Advertisements BUSINESS OWNERS!!!! Are you interested in showcasing your business cards in our newsletter? Advertisements are $20 per issue or $75 for the year! Issues are dispersed quarterly. For those of you who previously advertised, if you haven’t renewed don’t get left out! Call our office today!
~ Calendar of Events ~ 1.
February 10, 2015— Local workgroup meeting @ the SWCD office @ 8am
2.
February 10, 2015—Board meeting to be held @ the SWCD office @ 8:30am
3.
February 14, 2015—Valentine’s Day!
4.
February 19, 2015—Presidents Day—Office Closed
5.
February, 2015—Watershed Council meeting @ OSU Extension Conference Room - Date and Time—TBD
6.
February 27, 2015—General CSP Signup Deadline
7.
March 10, 2015—Board meeting to be held @ the SWCD office—Date subject to change
8.
March 31, 2015—CSP Renewal Deadline (2011 CSP Contracts)
9.
April 14, 2015—Board meeting to be held @ the SWCD office—Date subject to change
10. May 12, 2015—Board meeting to be held @ the SWCD office—Date subject to change 11. May 25, 2015—Memorial Day—Office Closed
~ Board & Staff ~ Sherman County SWCD Board of Directors Gary Irzyk, Chair Brad Eakin, Vice Chair Kyle Blagg, Treasurer Jesse Stutzman, Secretary Jesse Stutzman, Member SWCD Staff Ashley Aguilar, Financial Officer Kayla von Borstel, Watershed Council Coordinator Drew Messenger, Conservation Technician NRCS Staff Kristie Coelsch, District Conservationist Mary Beth Smith, Basin Resource Conservationist
We’re on the web! Don’t forget to check us out @ www.shermancountyswcd.com & www.shermncountywc.com The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination write to USDA Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
The Rolling Thunder
NONPROFIT ORG
Issue 01, Winter 2015
US POSTAGE PAID
Sherman County SWCD
MORO, OR 97039
P.O. Box 405 Moro, OR 97039
PERMIT #15
